


He Did Everything Right

by consoledacup



Series: Glimpses [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 10:21:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7528966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/consoledacup/pseuds/consoledacup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma's perspective and a couple additional scenes during the episode "Many Heads, One Tale".</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Did Everything Right

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AchillesMonkey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AchillesMonkey/gifts).



> Yup. Teared up writing this. They're just. Just. I can't.

She woke up in a cold sweat. Heart pounding. 

_Jemma, go. You can make it._

**_NO!_ **

_**WILL.** _

She took a deep breath, taking in her surroundings. She was in her bedroom. At the Playground. She was home.

And Will wasn’t.

-

She gazed at the only picture she had of him, holding the tablet, touching his pixilated face softly. 

The picture was taken before they became romantic - when they were two platonic roommates, working together for a common goal. Two platonic roommates beginning to develop _feelings_ for each other. Two platonic roommates who didn’t act on them, because they were going to go home. And she was finding her way back to _F -_

A crash broke her out of her reverie, and she looked up to see Fitz laying into one of the poor lab assistants. 

 _It was going to be one of_ those _days._

An overwhelming amount of affection flowed through her as she took in the sight of Fitz, surrounded by books. Books to help - 

_Oh, Fitz._

He was in the middle of his explanation when he reached for the tablet - the tablet that was currently sporting a picture of her and Will. 

She suddenly felt like a child with her hand stuck in the cookie jar. 

He glanced back up at her, eyes searching, a muted pain flashing through them but said nothing about it. 

-

She marked the page with a sticky note, closing the book swiftly, not wanting to read further. 

She needed something to - 

“Tea!” She exclaimed, causing Fitz to look up at her with a questioning look. “I mean, I’ve already had some, but _you_ \- you must be exhausted. Can I make you some?” 

“Uh - yeah. Sure. Tea sounds nice. Thanks, Jemma.” Fitz gave her a small smile and returned to his reading. 

She hurriedly left the study, not wanting to delve any further. 

_Besides._

Fitz needed tea. 

-

He called her out on her avoidance, the tea and the organizational system tipping him off. 

She sighed. He knew her far too well.

She didn’t want to -

But she opened the text, explaining to Fitz her theory. 

Her theory that Will was a - a blood sacrifice.

He looked at her in disbelief. 

She supposed he was starting to understand why she insisted he needed tea. 

-

_**\- even if we have to stay up all night** _

**_OKAY._ **

**_ALRIGHT._ **

_He made his bloody point._

Proving that he really was the most amazing, selfless man that ever - 

She knew it was hurting him, working with her on an endless search for her boyfriend. 

Yet, here he was. Leading the search, claiming that they would work day and night to find - 

She slammed the book closed in front of him, pleading with him to stop. 

He was taken aback, his eyes clouding with confusion.

She didn’t care.

He had - 

 _He_ **had** _to stop._

Because the more focussed he was on the mission, the more focussed she was on _him._

The more strength and determination he showed in rescuing Will, the more she fell in love with him. 

And that -

That was -

Why couldn’t he react like a typical scorned ex? Jealous and angry and refusing to look at her. Refusing to help. 

Why did he have to - 

She _loved_ Will.

But she loved _Fitz_ , too. 

And what - 

It was all just -

It was all just too _much_. 

-

And then they were flat out screaming at each other. The air between them crackled once again with something that after all this time she could finally define.

Sexual tension.

That’s what it was. He confronted her, and she confronted him, and she could stand it no longer. 

And she told him so. And for the first time since she told him everything, he didn’t hold back. 

 _Of course,_ he was angry. He was just masking his anger for her sake.

Again.

Always for her sake. 

**_We’re cursed._ **

Of all the - she scoffed at the notion.

Though, as he began to explain his reasoning, she had to admit, the argument was sound. If it wasn’t such a preposterous claim.

They did. They had years. Years to figure things out. 

She was flustered. Accusing him of waiting until he was about to drown in the ocean to tell her. Pointing fingers, placing blame. 

He saw right through her. She waited too. He waited and waited and waited, and she waited and waited and waited, and all the waiting...all the wasted time...it - 

And then his fury turned into something - something _else_. The minute he started talking about - about - 

_Will._

Tears started to form in her eyes, and she begged him, she pleaded with him to understand, but then he silenced her with the one question she had feared him asking ever since that fateful night in her bunk when she told him everything.

**_DO._ **

**_YOU._ **

**_LOVE._ **

**_HIM.?_ **

What could she say? What could she - 

She began to fumble her words, trying to - 

_No._

She was presented with an opportunity to be completely, gut-wrenchingly honest with him. And, this time, she had to take it. 

He deserved that much.

And so much more.

“Yes.” 

And the minute - the - 

He just - she finally _saw_ his broken heart, and it - 

She just - she wanted him to stop. She regretted instigating the argument. He just - he needed to _stop_. 

**_PLEASE._ **

She begged him, she pleaded for him to - 

He slammed the counter with his fist, admitting that he tried to dig up - 

_Oh, Fitz._

She couldn’t - why must he _insist_ on - 

Couldn’t he - how could he _not_ see himself the way she saw him? 

Could he be anymore - of _course_ he - he - he - was he really _defending_ her feelings of all things? Why must he - why must he _insist_ on - 

She snapped. 

“And you dove through a hole in the universe for me!”

She was breathing hard. 

He was breathing hard. 

Until he wasn’t. 

Because - 

Because he - 

Because - 

_Oh._

**FITZ.**

She gasped into his mouth, as he pressed her into the desk, and in a fit of - of _passion_ , she flung the book she had been studying off of it, not really sure what she - what she - 

His hold on her was firm. One hand on her waist, gripping her tightly to him. The other at her face. And once she regained - regained - 

She responded eagerly. She wanted to feel - she wanted _more -_ she _wanted_ - 

And then all too soon, he released her, stepping back slightly. Staring at her, eyes nearly black with desire. 

They were both breathing hard. The tension in the air had turned electric. 

All thoughts left her as she stepped forward, wanting to - _to_

She reached for the back of his neck, urging him closer. She needed to - she _had_ to - 

Their breaths mingled right before she kissed him. He welcomed it, drawing her bottom lip into his mouth tenderly. She caressed his face gently, willing all the love and affection she possessed for him to flow through her fingertips. Through her lips. He held her securely in his arms, tightening his grip, and she wished he could hold her - she _wished_ -

This kiss wasn’t like the other one. Wasn’t full of pent-up passion. Wasn’t - 

No. This kiss was almost - it was almost _familiar_. It was - 

They broke apart too soon. And maybe not soon enough. Because now that she knew what it felt like to -

Their foreheads rested against each other as if some sort of magnetic force resided between them, drawing them. Connecting them. Fusing them together.

She kept her hand on his face, tracing his stubble with her fingernail, wanting to feel him - feel _all_ of - 

Her eyes fluttered open, and his eyes were closed, and she gazed at him.

Dazed. 

Spellbound. 

There was such _intensity_ in his features, and she was captivated - she wanted to - 

She leaned in to - 

But he had already opened his eyes. Breaking through the haze. Lifting his head from hers. 

Her hand slid off his cheek, resting on his chest, wanting to feel - 

**_We’re cursed._ **

Suddenly, the sentiment wasn’t so laughable. The words were whispered hoarsely. Passionately. Despairingly. 

He released her, and she was chilled from the loss of his warm embrace. He stepped away from her.

And she let him. 

She turned away, when - when she saw - 

“Fitz, is that what I think it is?” 

She looked back at him. At the man she loved. At the man who loved her. 

_If only it were that simple._

He stared back at her, his expression unreadable. Or maybe she just didn’t want to -

She turned back to the open book, forcing herself to -

And not think about what - 

“It uh - it looks like,” Fitz’s voice broke. “Looks like - it’s _Hydra_.”

Jemma threw up her arms. “Of course it is. Of _course_ Hydra would be behind our current plight.”

“Hey - it’s -”

“I just - it’s not _fair_ , Fitz.” She looked at him meaningfully, willing him to  understand what she was trying to say. She loved him, and she loved Will, and it wasn’t fucking fair.

Fitz sighed. 

“I know.”

-

Later that night, after debriefing the team and Hydra talks and several more awkward moments alone that two friends are bound to have after one or two passionate exchanges, she lie awake in her bunk. 

 _God_ , that - that _\- those -_

She was fucked. That much was certain.

Because those kisses revealed to her just how much passion resided between the two. They were rivals and then lab partners and then friends and then best friends and then best friends who cared for each other and then best friends who loved each other, and she had known all this. Calculated this into her assessment of their relationship.

But those kisses revealed that they were also best friends who _wanted_ each other. And that - 

That was - 

Well, it was - 

And _he_ was - 

And how could she just - 

...

She _couldn’t_. 

-

To catch a glimpse of Fitz’s perspective during “Many Heads, One Tale”, check out “[The Bloody Cosmos](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6950593/chapters/17115496)” - the 52nd chapter in [Glimpses Leading to the Inevitable](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6950593/chapters/15848782) and a companion piece to this one.

**Author's Note:**

> And once again, this is for you, AchillesMonkey! Egging on my writing frenzy by saying, “You know, I can’t decide which perspective I want to read in 3x08. Maybe you should do both.”
> 
> Maybe I should.


End file.
